Side by Side
by LoquaciousLupin
Summary: What happens to Tonks and Remus straight after the battle of Hogwarts? AU - Meetings with old friends long gone and the overwhelming peace that they will always be side by side might just get them through. (More information inside) Rated M to be safe (Mild discussions about Death)
1. Peace and Comfort

**AN - I have been thinking about this story for awhile now, but didn't quite know how to get it started - as usual it was supposed to be a very short one shot, similar to A single yellow Rose, but it developed a life of it's own and I fear will now have at least 3 chapters. It is my way of dealing with the fact that Remus and Tonks died in DH - they were given such a short time to enjoy each other and grow together, I had to write this for my own peace of mind! Though fair warning - they are still dead in this fic. - I own nothing, JK is a genius and I enjoy playing in the kingdom that she so masterfully created. **

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'**Side by Side' **

**Chapter One – Peace and Comfort**

"Remus! Oh God Remus, Remus, I, I…Remus?"

Tonks blinked feeling as if she had awoken from a terrible dream. Opening her eyes she tried to discern where she was and what had just happened. The Auror training she had completed many years ago, was gently whispering that she should jump to her feet, wand at the ready for what would inevitably come next. Yet despite the worry she felt in the pit of her stomach for Remus, she seemed to be swathed in a blanket of peace and comfort. She slowly stood to her feet and tried to take in her surroundings but everything seemed unclear, like a haze had settled in front of her eyes.

She stood slowly and tentatively began to explore her surroundings. She wasn't afraid; the blanket of peace was still firmly in place. She seemed to be in a meadow, she could smell spring in the air, see the beautiful blossoming flowers as she breathed in the appealing aroma. Continuing her exploration she took a few steps forwards, and though she still felt at peace, her longing to find Remus, to make sure he was okay, to ensure that what she remembered seeing just moments ago had been only a terrible nightmare returned to her like a flood. Spinning around on her heals she stopped and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Remus" she breathed. He was here. He was breathing. He was standing, walking towards her, arms stretched out. As they embraced she felt tears of joy trickle down her cheeks.

He was alive. They were both alive.

Yet she'd seen it, she was so sure, hadn't she seen the green jettison of deadly light heading their way, hadn't she tried with all her might to push him to the ground, to block the curse with her own body. It all seemed too hazy, too unclear in her head to have been real.

"Remus, I was so sure…"

Remus hadn't let go of her, he was holding her so tightly that she felt nothing could ever hurt her again. "I know," he soothed, "I thought I'd lost you. I couldn't find you."

Tonks pulled back and looked at Remus' face, he seemed younger, the angry scares that had been etched into his face long before she'd known him were still visible, but seemed to have faded so much, that if she didn't know they'd been there, she probably wouldn't have noticed them. "I was looking for you too. I wanted to make sure you were okay. That you weren't hurt."

Remus smiled, the smile that she hadn't seen from him in so long, the smile that lit up his whole face, making his beautiful blue-gray eyes sparkle. The smile he'd shown after they'd kissed for the first time, the kiss she'd woken up to the first time she'd spent the night with him, the smile he wore in their wedding photo. To Tonks, that smile _was_ Remus Lupin; she loved everything about the smile he seemed to reserve only for her. She reached up and with a feather-like touch, traced his lips with her fingers. "Actually," Remus said, "I don't think I am hurt. I feel better than I have in a very very long time."

Tonks beamed, though fighting was hard on all of them, and aches and pains had become a part of the everyday for all of the members of the Order of the Pheonix, Remus she knew, though he never complained, suffered more than all of them put together. Though he'd been able to continue using the Wolfsbane potion for a few years now, thanks largely to Dumbledore leaving Tonks a supply of the potion in his will, the condition took its toll on his body, meaning she feared that there was never really a day when Remus wasn't in some pain. She curled her arms around his waist, wanting never to let him go. As her arms slid round his body, she too realised that she wasn't in any pain either; which was odd considering only moments ago they'd been…

Fighting in a war, at Hogwarts, against far too many death eaters. Until…

The smile vanished from her face. She remembered again, she'd seen it. As if in slow motion, she'd seen the curse. The blanket of peace was starting to frustrate her, her insides wanted to worry, wanted to figure out what the heck was happening, why they were here, why they weren't still fighting, why they weren't still trying to stop the world from going to hell, but the comfort she felt from Remus, from her surroundings was just too strong.

She felt completely and utterly at peace.

Even though she knew.

"We died didn't we?" Tears filled her eyes as she lifted her head and spoke the simple truth. Tears were inevitable. There was no peace and comfort great enough for her to not feel the sting at what they'd left behind, all the people she loved so dearly, not only would she never see them again, but she'd never know, never be sure they were safe, whether they'd succeeded in doing what she'd tried so desperately hard to do for the past four years, help good triumph over evil.

"Yes," Remus replied solemnly, "We're dead Dora." She wrapped her arms more tightly around him, in the confusion and the sadness; he was something she could cling to. "My darling, why, why did you try to save me? Always trying to save me from myself." Remus didn't sound angry or upset, he sounded grateful.

Tonks couldn't bear to let go of him, "There would be no point saving myself if you weren't alive. I didn't know what I was living for until I met you Remus," she was mumbling into his chest.

Then she was being pulled up, Remus' arms around her, his mouth crushing hers in a passionate need to be connected with her. "I love you Dora, so so much. I love, oh Dora, love, I love you." Remus' words were interspersed with more kisses as his hands held her so close to him.

The pair broke apart, only slightly, just enough for Remus to place his hands on his wife's hips and lean his forehead against hers. "We're together."

The peace and comfort she'd felt since she'd arrived in this meadow tightened it grasp on her, the feeling spreading throughout her entire body. They were together.

"But what happened? I mean when I woke up, I mean, when I first got here, you weren't here." Tonks took Remus' hand and the pair began to walk towards a bench she hadn't noticed before now.

Sitting down and turning to face her, he explained, "Well, I went somewhere else, I'm not sure where. It was dark and cold but at the same time I felt unbearably hot. Almost as soon as I woke up, or, or arrived I suppose, I transfigured, I became my wolf form, only," Remus paused, looking as though he didn't know how to continue, Tonks gave his hand a squeeze and nodded her encouragement, "it, the wolf side of me, it seemed to separate, almost jump out of me and for a moment I was standing face to face with it – staring at it, I could see pain and sorrow in its eyes. I almost felt sorry for it." Remus was staring off into the distance, his eyes seemed to swell with pity, "Then I felt a question, though someone was asking me a question, but at the same time it came from inside me." Tonks brow furrowed.

"And what was the question?" She asked.

Remus looked at her then, "Where did I want to go." He smiled.

"And what was your answer?"

Remus beamed at her, "I said I wanted to go wherever you were and then I saw you, standing right in front of me." Tonks felt more tears fill her eyes, tears of joy this time.

"Thank you." She snuggled closer to her husband. She'd heard it, or felt it too, the question, before the haze had cleared. Where did she want to be? She'd thought about a place her father had taken her as a little girl, a meadow not far from their house, full of rows and rows of the most beautiful flowers she'd ever seen. When she was seven, and had been teased about her Metamorphagus abilities for the first time, he'd taken her to their secret meadow and plucked one of the flowers. He'd explained to her that she was like one of the thousands of flowers that grew here, only she was special. She was just like a flower but instead of being one type of flower, beautiful but steadfast, each season she'd transform, morph into a new beauty. She'd clung to that moment growing up, allowed it to fill her with confidence and love from a father she cared for so dearly.

Then she'd thought of Remus and he had appeared in the meadow with her.

"Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you for coming back to me."

After a moment's quiet reflection, Tonks said the only thing that now seemed to be on her mind.

"Remus, I… Teddy." She felt her husband squeeze her shoulder, pulling her closer into his side. She felt more devastatingly sad than she ever had in her life that she'd had to leave her beautiful, perfect little baby boy behind and though tears began to fall freely down her cheeks now, that comfort and peace was still ever present, she was sad to be sure, but the overwhelming feeling that everything, even Teddy, would be just fine would not leave her.

"I know." Remus said sadly, a hitch in his voice. "I, I don't know how I feel. I want to scream and shout, I want to go back, find him. But… but I just feel so peaceful here, like if we were just stay here, everything would be fine."

Tonks looked up at him, relief flooding her that he was feeling the same as her. "Me too." There was a long pause before she continued. "But Remus, I'm not sure I can just stay here, not until… until I know for sure Teddy's safe, that he'll always be safe."

Remus stood and pulled Tonks to her feet. Clasping her hand in his own, together they began to walk forward, with no real idea of what they were doing or where they were going, only both knowing that they _needed_ to know that Teddy was okay. That he'd always be okay.

The meadow unfolded before them as they walked, the valleys spreading out in front of them, looking at the landscape Tonks realised they could just keep walking forever, never leaving this place or arriving anywhere else, she could just spend eternity holding on to her husband, walking side by side with him.

Suddenly Remus stopped, Tonks stopping beside him. Slowly they turned to find where the voice they'd both just heard had come from.

"Hey! You two! Where do you think you're going?"

888

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**Thank you so much for reading this! I would love to hear your thoughts... Other characters will appear in the next chapters, I promise! **


	2. I've Seen Him and He's Wonderful!

**Thank you so much for reading, reviewing, liking and following this fic, each one of those actions means so very much. So, where were we? I believe some reunions are in order... :-) **

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**Si****de by Side**

**Chapter Two – I've seen him and he's wonderful**

He watched them sitting on the bench, huddled into each other and for just a second felt something which wanted to become jealously – but he wouldn't allow it. They had arrived together; they were side by side, through it all. He'd never had that luxury in life.

He'd known they would be good for each other, he'd even tried to broach the subject skilfully and subtly with Remus a few times but he'd always just shrugged it off or given a half-hearted "You know I've always known I'd never have all that" then made some excuse and headed off to bury his head in some big boring book.

He knew he was supposed to greet them, welcome them, make sure they weren't freaking out, but they just looked so peaceful and content that he was happy to give them a few moments to themselves. Only when they began to walk away, to get lost in the haze surrounding them did he feel it was time to intervene.

"Hey! You two! Where do you think you're going?"

Remus stopped rigidly, like a soldier standing to attention and Tonks followed suit. The pair turned slowly and said nothing. Just stared at him, stared as though they'd seen a…

He let out a deep bark like laugh.

"Sirius?" Remus voice was low and fragile, he sounded as if he felt his eyes were playing tricks on him. Tonks blinked a few times, before breaking into an awkward run, straight into Sirius' arms.

"Sirius! You're… you're… well you're here. It's you. Are you okay? What happened, where are we?"

The questions Tonks reeled seemed like nothing more than a blur of words to Sirius. He clapped his hand on her back and pulled her in for another squeeze before releasing her. He couldn't contain the beaming smile that had overtaken his entire face.

"Calm down Nymphadora, you're safe. And for now, that is all I can say, as far as the 'what where and how's' are concerned, you'll just need to be patient." He smiled and squeezed her hand, "It's _so_ good to see you." Tonks gave Sirius another tight squeeze before turning to see where Remus was.

Remus hadn't moved. He seemed rooted to the spot, whether through disbelief, joy, anger or confusion Sirius wasn't sure but slowly he made his way to where Remus was stood, unblinking.

"Remus my old friend, I can't, well I mean it's just, I've missed you so bloody much."

At that Remus closed the remaining gap between them and clapped his arms around his friend. "Sirius, I can't, you're here, you're okay. I'm so… I was so worried. So lost. Sirius, I missed you more than you could ever imagine."

Tonks couldn't help but smile at the emotional exchange between her second cousin and her husband. She'd known that they cared for each other, she'd found it endearing watching Remus fret over how low Sirius was feeling, locked up as he was, unable to truly be called a free man and how Sirius in turn, had, no matter how low he'd sung, never once, while it was in his power, allowed Remus to go through a full moon alone, always fusing over him in the day preceding and following the painful transformations. Yet in life neither man had been the type to wear their emotions on their sleeve, it seems it took death – for them to openly confess just how much they meant to each other.

Both men straightened up and cleared their throats, coughing and slapping each other's backs in a macho blokey sort of way that made Tonks roll her eyes fondly at the pair.

The three of them began to walk, "Come on, I'm supposed to take you … well just follow me." Sirius led the way as they walked in the opposite direction in which Remus and Tonks had set off earlier.

There was a companionable silence between the three of them, Tonks firmly held on to Remus' hand, taking in her surroundings, feeling so utterly safe and loved. "I have to say Moony, you're looking a damned sight better than those drunken nights we wiled away at Grimmauld Place." There didn't seem to be any bitterness to Sirius' voice as there once had been whenever he talked about his ancestral family home.

Remus chortled, "I could say the same about you …" he smiled at his old friend, "I feel a damn lot better too. Younger, healthier, happier…"

Tonks gave Remus' hand a firm squeeze, and he gazed lovingly at her for a second before a realisation seemed to flash across his face.

"Oh!" He exclaimed. "Sirius, I have a son! Me Remus! Old Moony. I wish you could have seen him. I'm a father Sirius!"

The smile that lit up Sirius' face made him look just as he had in the pictures Tonks had remembered seeing as a young girl, before they were quickly removed from the frames, to be replaced by others and not spoken about.

"I know," he said "I've seen him and he's wonderful." The smile on Sirius' face sobered just a little, "You were always made to be a father Remus."

Tonks wasn't sure what exchange passed between the two men for the next few minutes, she was lost in a daze, Sirius' words playing on loop in her head, _"I've seen him and he's wonderful." _Did that mean...surely he wasn't… he was _safe_. Before she'd made the agonizing decision to leave him with her mother and go after Remus she made sure that they'd both be _safe._

She stopped abruptly. Rooted to the spot, "Where is he, he isn't supposed to be here. I thought he was safe, I never would have left him… he's so young. Sirius take me to him. I have to hold him, take me to see him I, I…" Tonks was enveloped into Remus' arms her words' becoming inaudible mumbles that were absorbed by his chest.

For a long time, Sirius' only reply was "I can't do that Tonks. Not yet."

He seemed to be pondering what to say, at length he finally continued, "Teddy is fine. He is alive and well, you'll, you'll see him _soon_. Please can we just keep walking?" Sirius seemed to be struggling to find the right words, he ran his fingers through his mane of hair, "I don't bloody know what they were thinking sending me to meet you both," he breathed as Remus' finally convince Dora to keep moving forward, "this is still all so new to me too, I still haven't got my head around it all, the _haze_ still hasn't quite cleared like it has for the others. I don't know if I truly understand why we're here, or where _here_ even is. I just know, that I've never felt so happy, so peaceful, so, so wrapped in comfort."

Tonks seemed to have been swathed in that same comfort again, longing still to know that Teddy was safe, she couldn't stop herself from calming down, from feeling somehow _sure_ that he was.

"Come on," Sirius said, suddenly cheerful. "Let's take you to see the others."

Remus and Tonks looked at each uncertainly, _others?_

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**Reviews are always welcomed :-) Oh how I'd missed Sirius! More to come next week - not until at least Tuesday when things will begin to get less 'hazy' I promise!**


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